

Give Them An Argument
Ben Burgis
Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 27, 2024 • 2h 7min
Thursday Night Debate Breakdown: RFK, Jr. vs. Dave Smith
Matthew Whalan joins Ben Burgis for another Thursday Night Debate Breakdown. This time, they're watching a brand-new one--Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (who's somehow both an ardent apologist for Israeli war crimes and an occasional just-asking-questions advocate of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories) debating libertarian podcaster Dave Smith on Kennedy's position on Israel/Palestine.Read Matthew's Substack:https://matthewvernonwhalan.substack.comFollow Matthew on Twitter: @VernonWhalanFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 25, 2024 • 1h 58min
Thursday Night Debate Breakdown: William F. Buckley vs. John Kenneth Galbraith
Current Affairs magazine's "House Economist" Robert Larson joins Ben Burgis to continue the weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdowns by watching left-liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith's 1981 appearance on William F. Buckley's Firing Line. (There might also be a surprise bonus mini-breakdown at the beginning of the show.)Read Rob at Current Affairs:https://www.currentaffairs.org/author/rob-larsonFollow Rob on Twitter: @IronicProfessorFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 23, 2024 • 2h 8min
Season 6 Episode 6: Tucker Does Moscow (ft. Deep State Kuba)
Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin. Pro-war libs think Carlson should be locked up as a "traitor." Actual Putin apologists--few and far between in the general population, but if you look in the right corners of the internet you can find plenty of them!--ignored a lot of what Russia's ultra-right-wing, militaristic president had to say. Our resident expert on Eastern European People, Deep State Kuba, comes by to provide a little clarity. Later, Conan Neutron joins us in the postgame for patrons to watch Ben Shapiro rank film franchises--it turns out his reasoning skills don't get any better when the subject turns from politics to movies. This should be a fun one.Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2Follow Conan on Twitter: @conanneutronFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 20, 2024 • 2h 22min
Thursday Night Debate Breakdown: Jordan Peterson at Oxford
Ben Burgis and Deep State Kuba continue the weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdown's by watching Dr. Lobster spar with Oxford students.Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 17, 2024 • 1h 53min
Season 6 Episode 5: RM Brown + Breaking Down the Krystal v .Saagar Immigration Debate w/Matt Cameron
The great RM Brown stops by at the beginning of the show to join Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew for some Valentine's Day content with Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro. (They're very concerned about sexual boredom!) After that, we're joined by immigration lawyer Matt Cameron to break down a debate between Breaking Points hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on immigration. (Think of it as a rare "Monday Night Debate Breakdown.") Ben wrote about this debate (and other right-populists taking a similar like to Saagar's) here:https://jacobin.com/2024/02/us-border-immigration-right-wing-populism-workersFinally, in the postgame for patrons, we subject you for some reason to more Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro content. Apologies in advance.Matt has written extensively about immigration-related issues. You can find some that here:https://thebaffler.com/authors/matt-cameronFollow Matt on Twitter: @matt_camFollow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 13, 2024 • 1h 59min
Thursday Night Debate Breakdown: Glenn Greenwald & Alex Jones vs. Destiny & The Krassensteins Pt. 2
Victor Bruzzone and Ethan from the Confronting Capital channel come back to watch the second half of this trainwreck of a debate.Check out Victor and Ethan's podcast (with Matt McManus and Gordon Katic) "Academic Edgelords"):https://academicedgelords.com/Follow Ethan on Twitter: @anontwtuser11Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 9, 2024 • 2h 22min
Season 6 Episode 4: Is the Left Too Soft on Nietzsche? (ft. Daniel Tutt & Matt McManus)
Matt McManus and Daniel Tutt join Ben Burgis to talk about Daniel's new book "How to Read Like a Parasite: How the Left Got High on Nietzsche." Before that, This is Revolution host Jason Myles joins Ben and the GTAA crew to talk about Jason's new article "Same As It Ever Was: The Ilusion of Political Discourse in American Media" and talk about the get-together Ben and Jason will be hosting for viewers of both shows at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Los Angeles at 6 PM on February 14th--because obviously, the thing your significant other most wants to do on Valentine's Day is for you to take them to hang out with divorced middle-aged Marxist podcasters. Hell, that can be their present!Last but definitely not least, in the postgame for patrons we're joined by Mean Djene Bajalan to watch the lobster man himself, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, doing Q&A at Oxford.Buy Daniel's book:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/740015/how-to-read-like-a-parasite-by-daniel-tutt/Follow Jason on Twitter: @J_Myles_TiRFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Daniel on Twitter: @DanielTuttFollow Djene on Twitter: @djenebajalanFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 6, 2024 • 2h 12min
Thursday Night Debate Breakdown: Glenn Greenwald & Alex Jones vs. Destiny & The Krassensteins Pt. 1
Victor Bruzzone and Ethan from the Confronting Capital channel are BACK for another Thursday Night Debate Breakdown. This week they have the privilege of watching the folks from this video's title debating the meaning of the January 6th riot. Check out Victor and Ethan's podcast (with Matt McManus and Gordon Katic) "Academic Edgelords"):https://academicedgelords.com/Follow Ethan on Twitter: @anontwtuser11Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Feb 2, 2024 • 2h 9min
Season 6 Episode 3: Debunking Bedbug Bret Stephens
Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson joins us to break down New York Times columnist Bret "Bedbug" Stephens's article "The Genocide Charge Against Israel Is a Moral Obscenity":https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/opinion/israel-hamas-war-genocide.htmlBefore that, Ben and the GTAA crew watch Ben's appearance on Novara Media to talk about the New Hampshire results and the Trump vs. Biden rematch nobody asked for.[NOTE: The planned debate with Christopher Rufo IS still happening--just not tonight. Should be an update on that very soon.]Follow Nathan on Twitter: @ \NathanJRobinsonFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com

Jan 26, 2024 • 2h 14min
Season 6 Episode 2: Owning the Libs (ft. Luke Savage)
Jacobin columnist Luke Savage joins us to talk about Luke's article "Modern Liberalism Has Become a Defense of Hierarchy and Deference to Elites" and the incoherent 34-point lib manifesto in the New York Times Luke was responding to--Cass Sunstein's "Why I Am a Liberal." Before that, host Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew talk Trump, immigration, Biden sleepwalking us into yet another war in the Middle East, and Ben's recent appearance on Woke Bros. Last but definitely not least, Ben subjects the crew to more of Bill Maher's Club Random podcast than anyone should be expected to endure in the postgame for patrons. We do it for you, dear viewers. We do it for you.Check out Luke's book The Dead Center:https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-dead-center/Read his Jacobin article:https://jacobin.com/2023/12/cass-sunstein-liberalism-thesesRead the Cass Sunsetin article:https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/opinion/cass-sunstein-why-liberal.htmlFollow Luke on Twitter: @LukewSavageFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com


